{"id":26890,"date":"2026-04-26T11:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=26890"},"modified":"2026-04-26T11:32:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:32:32","slug":"bemidji-dwi-refusal-case-involved-three-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-dwi-refusal-case-involved-three-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji DWI Refusal Case Involved Three Children"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Bemidji<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Bemidji man is facing multiple charges after a traffic stop involving three juveniles.<\/p>\n<p>Lee Anthony St John Sr. is charged in Beltrami County District Court.<\/p>\n<p>The case is filed in Minnesota\u2019s 9th Judicial District under court file 04-CR-26-814.<\/p>\n<p>Charges include DWI test refusal, child endangerment, and unlawful possession of a legend drug.<\/p>\n<h2>Speeding Stop On Paul Bunyan Drive<\/h2>\n<p>According to the complaint, the stop happened April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>A Minnesota State Patrol trooper was traveling north on Paul Bunyan Drive Southeast.<\/p>\n<p>The trooper reported seeing a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed.<\/p>\n<p>Radar showed the vehicle was traveling 49 mph in a posted 35 mph zone.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle pulled into a parking lot near Paul Bunyan Drive Southeast and Roosevelt Road Southeast.<\/p>\n<p>The driver was identified as Lee Anthony St John Sr.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says three juveniles were inside the vehicle.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center; margin: 25px 0;\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: inline-block;\" src=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/St.JohnLee.png\" alt=\"Mugshot of Lee Anthony St John Sr\" \/><em>Lee Anthony St John Sr.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Complaint Alleges Signs Of Impairment<\/h2>\n<p>Authorities reported that St John had rigid muscle movements and glossy eyes.<\/p>\n<p>St John allegedly said his cruise control was set.<\/p>\n<p>He also said he was not paying attention.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says St John discussed past heroin and fentanyl use.<\/p>\n<p>He also said he had recently been taking Suboxone.<\/p>\n<p>St John allegedly said he missed a Suboxone dose and a urinalysis appointment that day.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities requested field sobriety testing.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says St John had trouble following instructions during testing.<\/p>\n<p>He allegedly had balance issues during the walk-and-turn and one-leg-stand tests.<\/p>\n<p>A preliminary breath test showed a reading of 0.000, according to court records.<\/p>\n<h2>Pills Found In Vehicle<\/h2>\n<p>St John showed authorities an envelope he said contained Suboxone.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities later found a zip-lock bag containing yellow pills in the driver\u2019s door.<\/p>\n<p>St John allegedly said the pills were gabapentin.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says 14 yellow pills were submitted into evidence.<\/p>\n<p>St John was placed under arrest for DWI.<\/p>\n<p>During transport to Sanford Bemidji Medical Center, he allegedly said he would not submit to testing.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities obtained a search warrant for a blood or urine sample.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says St John refused a blood test after being advised that refusal was a crime.<\/p>\n<p>He also refused to answer when asked about a urine test.<\/p>\n<h2>Charges And Possible Penalties<\/h2>\n<p>The DWI refusal charge is listed under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/169A.20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Statute 169A.20<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The child endangerment charge is listed under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/609.378\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Statute 609.378<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The legend drug charge is listed under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/151.37\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Statute 151.37<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The gross misdemeanor counts each carry up to 364 days in jail.<\/p>\n<p>They also carry a possible $3,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint lists a prior DWI conviction from January 2, 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The charges are only accusations at this stage.<\/p>\n<p>St John is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n<p>More case information may be available through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mncourts.gov\/Access-Case-Records.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m Chris Harper reporting for <a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bemidji (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Bemidji man is facing multiple charges after a traffic stop involving three juveniles. Lee Anthony St John Sr. is charged in Beltrami County District Court. The case is filed in Minnesota\u2019s 9th Judicial District under court file 04-CR-26-814. Charges include DWI test refusal, child endangerment, and unlawful possession of a legend&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-dwi-refusal-case-involved-three-children\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bemidji DWI Refusal Case Involved Three Children<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[1633,16888,16836,16889,16742,14771],"class_list":["post-26890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-dwi-refusal","tag-child-endangerment-charge","tag-lee-anthony-st-john-sr","tag-legend-drug-charge","tag-minnesota-dwi-case","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26890"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26894,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26890\/revisions\/26894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}